Letter to the Editor: ‘Is This a Bonhoeffer Moment?’

The February issue of Sojourners magazine contained an article, “Is This a Bonhoeffer Moment?”

I read it a week or so ago and can’t seem to get the thoughts contained therein out of my head. So, I decided that I needed to write about it. I am an active member of a Christian church, though not a theologian as was Bonhoeffer.

Those four words we heard continuously during the last presidential campaign could well have been said during Hitler’s time, only saying make Germany great again. During Hitler’s time, Christian churches were filled with Nazi officers, SS guards and concentration camp doctors. And now, many of those who claim the title “religious right” or “alt-right” are sitting in the pews on a Sunday morning but spewing hatred during the rest of the week. This is not my kind of Christianity. And it certainly doesn’t come from any of Jesus’ teachings.

I cannot understand those proclaiming Christianity, knowing Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40 (“…as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”) and then listening to and agreeing with our president. His derogatory talk about Mexicans, African-Americans, the LGBTQ community, Muslims and pretty much anyone other than the straight white population emboldens violence by white supremacists and those who march under the Nazi flag.

Being patriotic does not mean blindly following our country’s leader as was done during Hitler’s time. It means standing up for and voting for those who believe that democracy is for all. It means writing or phoning your Congressperson, thanking them when they do what is right and letting them know when you believe they are on the wrong track.

Quoting the last paragraph from the article mentioned above: “Bonhoeffer’s life and work and death require the church to ask these questions. In the midst of this current political maelstrom, do you individually or collectively want to be a perpetrator, bystander, or resister? Everything is at stake.”